BJP won't need Sena to form govt in Maharashtra, says Shahanwaz Hussain

Buoyed by exit poll surveys, BJP on Thursday claimed that it would form governments on its own in Haryana and Maharashtra, and stressed that it would not require support of the Shiv Sena to form government in the latter. “We are confident about forming governments in both Haryana and Maharashtra and even the exit poll surveys point to the BJP getting majority in these two states,” BJP spokesman Syed Shahanwaz Hussain told reporters in Patna. [caption id=“attachment_1758559” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  BJP said it will form the government in Maharashtra and Haryana. AFP[/caption] When asked whether BJP would seek support of Shiv Sena to form government in Maharashtra in the event of falling short of attaining majority on its own, he said that such a situation would not arise at all and Maharashtra would have a BJP chief minister for the first time. “However, Shiv Sena continues to be part of the NDA where its leader Anant Geete holds Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises porfolio in the central government, while the two parties together run the Bombay Municipal Corporation,” the BJP leader said. He said the people were impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership capability in home and abroad. The senior BJP leader said that the saffron party would now shift its focus to Jharkhand and later to Bihar and begin preparations for Assembly polls in the two states with an endeavour to form its government. When asked about the fate of the LJP and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) with the NDA after BJP severed ties with allies like the Haryana Janhit Party and Shiv Sena ahead of assembly polls in the two states, he said LJP and RLSP would continue to be part of the NDA and the government in Bihar will be formed with the allies. Hussain attacked former chief minister Nitish Kumar for campaigning in Haryana and said that the senior JD(U) leader’s attempt to match Modi had come a cropper going by the exit poll surveys and Kumar would be hardpressed to offset taint of campaigning for a party (INLD) led by a convicted leader (Om Prakash Chautala). Kumar first aligned with the RJD President Lalu Prasad despite the latter being convicted in the fodder scam and further eroded his credibility by campaigning for the INLD, the BJP leader said. PTI